Substance on Salvador Perez's shinguard is legal

Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals speaks with Edinson Volquez on the pitcher's mound in the sixth inning against the New York Mets during Game One of the 2015 World Series at Kauffman Stadium on Oct. 27, 2015 in Kansas City, Missouri. Photo Credit: Getty Images / Jamie Squire

"It's not illegal for a catcher to get an extra grip," Royals manager Ned Yost said before Wednesday night's Game 2. "A pitcher is illegal, but Sal is not putting anything on the ball for the pitcher. He uses it for his own. He just taps it lightly so that he gets a better grip when he throws, which is completely legal."

"I don't know if Travis does it, he probably does," Collins said of his catcher, Travis d'Arnaud. "I've seen throughout baseball, everywhere, you have it. And again, catchers, they've got to get a grip, too, especially on cold and damp nights."

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"They need a grip on the baseball, so they use pine tar for themselves."

Collins said Perez loading the ball was not a concern.

"Every catcher in baseball has pine tar on their shinguard," Collins said.

"It's for them. It's really hard to transfer that onto the ball and give the pitcher something to hold on to, especially as many times as they throw balls out today."

"I go back to my days in Albuquerque when it was cold and dry, and I had pitchers, you couldn't shake their hand because you couldn't get your hand away from them," Collins said. "The argument was, you can either do this or you can let this wild sucker throw some balls at 95 miles an hour with no command. I think any hitter would say, 'Let him have a little command on it, it's OK.' ''

With Marc Carig

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